Cornice



y 1951 w. J. PURCELL 2,553,869

CORNICE Filed Sept. 10, 1946 I 13 10 INVENTOR Will 1 12m Il a fCQZ/ ATTRNEYS- Patented May 22, 1951 UNITED PATENT OFFICE GORNICE William .1. Purcell, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor o L, udd mp wallin d. Conn a corporation of Delaware App ication. Scrtcmber 10, 1.94.6. S ial. N 695.942.

6 Claims. 1

My inv t ates. to a co n wh ch may for example, be used on a window frame and more particularly to a cornice construction whereby a cornice may be. easily produced with, corners having a finished appearance.

It is a general object of my invention to, provide an improved readily constructable cornice of the character indicated.

It is another object to provide improved means for using a single style of cornice board for the fabrication andeasy assembly of a cornicehaving a finished appearance.

It is a further object to provide an improved cornice construction which may be unit-handling in its collapsed condition whereby easier packag ing and assembly are possible,

It is also an object to provide an improved collapsible cornice assembly fabricated from a single style of cornice board and which when assembled will show negligible gaps from the outside.

) Still another object is to provide an improved cornice of rugged construction.

Other objects and various further features of the invention will hereinafter be pointed out or will occur to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In said drawmgs:

Fig. 1 is a broken perspective view of a preferred form of my improved cornice, shown mounted to a window frame;

Fig. 2 is a partially broken-away plan view of one end of the structure shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the same structure shown in collapsed condition suitable for packaging.

Broadly speaking, my invention contemplates a cornice construction in which the rail and the returns are separately formed but linked together to form a rugged installed assembly. The linkages permit ready collapsing of the assembly for easy packing. In the specific form to be described, both the rail and the returns are formed from cornice board having the same section, and the exposed ends of the rails are so finished off as to present a harmonious, substantially continuous, cornice contour.

The invention will be described as embodied in a window cornice of which the front or rail Hi is a single piece of cornice board and the returns or bracket portions II are pieces of the same material as the single longitudinal piece or rail. Previously, the ends of the rails and the forward ends of the returns or brackets have generally been joined by means of miter joints which require considerable skill and care in makin and as a matter of fact joints made in this Way usually have notable gaps. The parts so, far referred to are well known to those skilled i the. a

According to the present invention the returns l l are preformed at one end to present a smooth continuation of the contour of the cornice-board section. These returns are preferably so linked to the rail I0 that, when assembled therewith from the collapsed condition, the joint between h se. parts s ru d. and fin shed appear n To provide rugged joints, in the form shown, each return I I is routed along its. inner surface to form a groove or recess 12 of width preferably uf ici n to mo e t en f e ail I0. Ball [0 may bev linked to returns 1 l by means of straps or links l3 preferably provided both on the top and on the bottom (not visible in Fig. l) of the parts to be joined. The links 53 ar re e b a tened as by screw 5 t the edges of the rail Ill and of the returns ll, respectively, at points spaced from the abutment of these members.

It will be clear that the greater the length of the link [3 with respect to the parts to be joined, the greater will be the ruggedness of the finished joint. As a practical matter, however, I have found the proportions shown in Fig. 2 to be high ly satisfactory.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be seen that in a collapsed condition my improved cornice structure lends itself to efficient packaging, the returns II lying closely adjacent the rail in along the inner face or wall 15 thereof. In this collapsed condition it will be noted that the swing of link [3 forcibly brings the finished end I! of the returns well inside the abutment end of the rail l9. This feature affords protection to the finished end I! in the event of rough handling of the assembly.

It will be appreciated that I have described a simple cornice construction which may be cheaply prefabricated, efiiciently packaged, and readily assembled into a rugged fixture having pleasing appearance. Should the user need to apply my cornice to a window frame having dimensions not consistent with those of the article he has purchased, it is but a simple matter requiring simple tools to remove the fastenings for link I3 at one end of the rail I0 and to saw off that end of the rail I9 to the desired dimensions.

While I have described my invention in detail for the preferred form shown, it will be understood that modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In a cornice, a longitudinally extending rail, a return member for abutment with an end of said rail, and link means having a first pivotal connection to said rail and a second pivotal connection to said return member, said pivotal connections being spaced from the location of said abutment.

2. In a cornice, a longitudinally extending rail, a return member for abutment With an end of said rail, said return member having a support end spaced from said abutment, and a link pivotally connected to said rail at a point spaced from said end thereof, said link also being pivotally connected to said return member at a point intermediate said abutment and said support 3. In a cornice, a longitudinally extending rail, a return member having a finished end and a support end and having a generally transverse rail-receiving groove near said finished end, and a pivotal link fastened to said rail near one end thereof and to said return member at a point intermediate said groove and said support end, said link being pivoted at a point spaced from said groove, whereby said rail may be received in said groove and held braced therein at a desired angle with said return member.

4. In a cornice, a rail of cornice board having an inner face and an outer face, and a return of cornice board having the same section and contour as said rail, said return having a support end and a finished end and a rail-receiving groove in the inner face near said finished end for abutting fit with and by said rail, the contour of said outer face of the return being formed on said finished end and also along the inner face thereof between said finished end and said groove, whereby when one end of said rail is fitted in said groove the contour of said outer face may appear substantially continuous on the outer side of the joint formed by said fit.

5. In a cornice, a rail member, a return member for abutmentwith each end of said rail member, and bracket means near each said end, said bracket means being fastened permanently to said rail member and to one of said return members and including a pivot, the points of such fastening being spaced from the point of abutment of said one return member with said rail member, whereby said rail member and said re turn members may be permanently associated with each other Whether folded for packaging or spread for said abutments, and whereby effective bracing may be achieved through said bracket means without any assembly operation other than a pivoted opening spread of said return members to the abutment positions.

6. In a cornice, a rail member, a return member at an end of said rail member, said return member having a transverse groove to receive the adjacent end of said rail member, and means pivotally connecting said end of said rail member to said return member.

WILLIAM J. PURCELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,677,627 Goodrow July 17, 1928 1,929,140 Gabel Oct. 3, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 473,488 Germany Mar. 16, 1929 532,269 Germany Aug. 26, 1931 

